kuhlbnsghmidt



UNITED STATES PATENT OFFICE.

W. KUHLENSGHMIDT, OF NEW YORK, N. Y.

SCREW-WRENCH.

Specification of Letters Patent No. 25,571, dated September 27, 1859.

To all 'whom 'it may concern:

Be it known that I,V.KUHLENsc1-IMIDT, of the city, county, and State of New York, have invented a new and Improved Screw- VVrench; and I do hereby declare that the following is a full, clear, and exact description of the same, reference being had to the accompanying drawings, forming a part of this specification, in which- Figure 1, represents a side elevation of my invention, partly in section. Fig. 2, is a back view of ditto. Fig. 3, is a horizontal section of the same, the line oc, a', Fig. 1, indicating the plane of section, and Fig. l, is a face view of the conical disk with the helical groove which I use for operating my wrench.

Similar letters of reference in the several views indicate corresponding parts.

The principal object in this invention is to arrange the wrench so that it can be opened and closed with rapidity and that all its parts are so formed that they can be cast; and the invention consists in arranging a conical disk with a helical groove on a pin put obliquely in a pendant attached to the movable jaw of the wrench, said groove to gear into corresponding cogs on the back of the shank to which the stationary jaw is attached, so that by turning this disk the movable jaw is closed or opened, and this disk is forced against the cogs on the shank by means of a spring, so that the same can be drawn back and the helical groove disengaged from the cogs and that the movable jaw slides on the shank, so that it can be opened and closed with great rapidity.

To enable those skilled in the art to make and use my `invention I will proceed to describe its construction and operation.

The stationary jaw A, is secured to the l shank B, the lower end of which is tapered oil', so that the handle can be applied, in the usual manner. The back of the shank is provided with cogs a, which extend over its whole length.

C, is the movable jaw, which slides freely up and down on the shank B, and rigidly attached to its back is a pendant D, which carries a pivot b, on which a conical disk E, is made to rotate freely. This disk is provided with a helical groove o, on its face, which engages with the cogs on the back of the shank, and the pivot o, is placed obliquely into the pendant D, so that one side of the conical disk is disengaged from the cogs o, on the shank as clearly repre sented in Fig. 1, and that all the cogs formed by the grooved disk on the other side engage with the cogs on the shank, which is not the case if the disk is made flat. A spiral spring d, placed on the pivot 7), between the pendant and the disk serves to keep the latter in gear with the cogs on the shank, and the edge of the disk is made rough so as to give a good hold to the iingers.

The operation will be easily understood, as by turning the disk E, in one direction or in the other the movable jaw is opened or closed. It it is desired to slide the movable jaw over a larger distance on the shank the helical groove on the disk is disengaged from the cogs a, on the back of the shank by pressing the disk back against the spring d, as represented in red outline in Fig. 1, and the movable jaw is free to slide up and down from one end of the shank to the other. By these means the movable jaw can be set for ditferent sized nuts or screws with great rapidity, and the simplicity of the construction of my wrench is unsurpassed, all the parts with the exception of the spring cl, being so arranged that they can be castand that no extra fitting is required in order to put them in working order.

By making the face of the grooved disk conical, all the cogs on one side of the same engage with the cogs on the shank, which is not the case when the disk is made fiat, and in this latter case the outer cog of the disk has to sustain the whole force, when the wrench is applied, so that a wrench with a grooved disk, the face of which is dat, can only be used for very light work. I am aware that a vice is illustrated and described in the Technologische Enoyklopclz'c of Prechtel, where the movable jaw is arranged and operated with a grooved disk. This disk however is Hat and the outer cog has to sustain the whole force, when the vice is used; for this very reason it is described as being fit only for light work. Besides, in order to disengage said disk it is necessary to remove it altogether. For both these reasons the arrangement described in the above mentioned book would never do for a screw wrench, where the aws have in many cases to sustain a very great force and where the movable jaw has to be changed rapidly and sometimes with one hand only. Vit-h my wrench the movable jaw can be changed by simply pressing back the Ygrooved disk so that itcan be operated quite easily with one hand, and my wrench is adapted for heavy work as well as any other wrench in existence, all the cogs on one side of the grooved disk being engaged. A flat grooved disk can be applied with advantage only when both the jaws are movable, and in this case it is possible to have all the cogs on the disk engage with those on the aws. This arrangement is well known, the same being shown not only in the patent of J. D. Dale, 21st August, 1855, but also in universal chucks and in differentother devices. Dales wrench however, is entirely different from mine, it is a complicated affair and its operation is not at all like that of my wrench.

My Wrench is simple and cheap, it requires no eXtra labor, all its parts with the exception of the spring can be cast and there is no wrench now in the market which operates with the same facility and none which can be constructed with the same ease and cheapness.

Having thus fully described my invention what I claim as new and desire to secure by Letters Patent, is-

The arrangement and combination of the conical disk E, with the helical groove c, the spring CZ, the movable jaw C, and the shank B, to operate substantially as and for the purpose set forth.

W. KUHLENSCHMIDT. Witnesses W. SCHMIDT, P. MILSPAUGH. 

